Liberty County official charged in alleged threat over dog attack

Liberty County official facing threat chargesDA says his office 'left out of the loop' in case against assistant

CINDY HORSWELL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Photo: Liberty Co.

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Joe Warren has been released on a personal recognizance bond.

Joe Warren has been released on a personal recognizance bond.

Photo: Liberty Co.

Liberty County official charged in alleged threat over dog attack

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Liberty County Assistant District Attorney Joe Warren faces criminal charges for allegedly threatening a family more than a year ago with a gun after the family's pit bull killed his dog.

Warren could not be reached for comment. He was released on personal recognizance bond after being booked at the county jail Wednesday on misdemeanor charges of deadly conduct and making a terroristic threat and the felony charge of tampering with a witness.

District Attorney Mike Little said he had not received any information on the investigation from the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, which filed the charges against Warren.

"My office has been left out of the loop," he said. "This has been handled in an extremely unusual way. In the past, allegations against any public official are reviewed by a grand jury before charges are filed."

When Little contacted the sheriff to learn what charges were filed, the sheriff said he didn't know anything about it, Little said.

Investigator 'gagged'

The case is being handled by the special crimes department headed by investigator Louis Guthrie. He is a former lieutenant with the Harris County Sherrif's Office who was fired in May 2009 after he shut down a car wash in Humble, placing crime scene tape around it for an hour, to look for $16 his wife claimed had been stolen from her vehicle.

Guthrie said he is "gagged" from discussing specifics of the case because of its "sensitive nature."

"I am looking into what more can be released and should have something more tomorrow," he said.

He added that his firing by the Harris County sheriff's office is being appealed and that his superiors have admitted he did not violate any laws.

Handling big case

Warren is the lead prosecutor of the case involving the 11-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped by 19 men and boys from Cleveland. He has not been relieved of duty at this time.

City of Liberty Police Chief Billy Tidwell said the dog- shooting incident was investigated by his officers about a year and a half ago.

He said a hearing was held on whether the pit bull that killed Warren's dog should be declared dangerous and put to death.

He said the court decided to return the dog to its owners if they would move it from the area.